COSTUME GUIDELINES
What we wear, how we interpret what we wear and how you might like to put your CPBS bonfire costume together. Some helpful guidelines follow ...
SMUGGLERS KIT
First and foremost – a striped ‘guernsey’ in the society colours of light blue, dark blue and gold; we have patterns available on request, and suggested colours depending on what material you would prefer to use, though these are not set in stone. As we approach our fifth year, we also have younger members who are outgrowing their first set of stripes, so if you are trying to fettle a sprog, please do ask as a second-hand set may be up for grabs.
A note of etiquette: once worn, your stripes should never be washed; an authentic patina of spilt beer, soot, grime and burnt bits is a mark of esteem which increases in worth year on year.
White trousers; jeans tend to be the practical option, though anything similar will suffice including three-quarter length (below the knee) shorts or old fashioned sailors slops, as with everything, just find something practical.
A blue, plain or patterned neckerchief is required (yellow or light blue if you are on the committee, a captain or member of the development squad); a simple, tied square of cloth worn around the neck, pulled up over the face if you wish. Do not under any circumstance refer to these as ‘bandanas’ – we are not replicating Los Angeles gang culture - and do try to avoid paisley unless you want a mouthful from our Captain of Firesite about the history of textiles !
Footwear – black boots of some description; please do wear something comfortable and sensible - processions can easily approach a couple of miles or more in length, with the extended routes at Lewes being significantly further. Warm and waterproof are also worthy watchwords here.
Headgear is pretty much unregulated – from knitted Monmouth or voyageur-style hats in society colours to top hats, tricorns, leather coachman’s hats and wool-felt skullcaps, anything that ‘looks the part’ here will generally be acceptable. Stick some feathers on your hat, leaves, hop cones, a fox tail – take your pick of millinery embellishments.
Accessories – plenty of options here; leather waistcoats or jerkins, belts, tankards, period weapons as long as they are safe (blunt bladed or deactivated, ideally), and
wear as many or as few badges as you wish – as long as you have your current CPBS membership badge on display at the absolute minimum.
A note of etiquette: once worn, your stripes should never be washed; an authentic patina of spilt beer, soot, grime and burnt bits is a mark of esteem which increases in worth year on year.
White trousers; jeans tend to be the practical option, though anything similar will suffice including three-quarter length (below the knee) shorts or old fashioned sailors slops, as with everything, just find something practical.
A blue, plain or patterned neckerchief is required (yellow or light blue if you are on the committee, a captain or member of the development squad); a simple, tied square of cloth worn around the neck, pulled up over the face if you wish. Do not under any circumstance refer to these as ‘bandanas’ – we are not replicating Los Angeles gang culture - and do try to avoid paisley unless you want a mouthful from our Captain of Firesite about the history of textiles !
Footwear – black boots of some description; please do wear something comfortable and sensible - processions can easily approach a couple of miles or more in length, with the extended routes at Lewes being significantly further. Warm and waterproof are also worthy watchwords here.
Headgear is pretty much unregulated – from knitted Monmouth or voyageur-style hats in society colours to top hats, tricorns, leather coachman’s hats and wool-felt skullcaps, anything that ‘looks the part’ here will generally be acceptable. Stick some feathers on your hat, leaves, hop cones, a fox tail – take your pick of millinery embellishments.
Accessories – plenty of options here; leather waistcoats or jerkins, belts, tankards, period weapons as long as they are safe (blunt bladed or deactivated, ideally), and
wear as many or as few badges as you wish – as long as you have your current CPBS membership badge on display at the absolute minimum.
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First Pioneers – the Pre 1950’s Agricultural Workers
Our village and its surroundings are, of course, inextricably linked with agricultural endeavour, as farming has sustained the inhabitants throughout history. It’s not just a case of replicating the dress of those who worked on the land though – we’re happy to see anyone in an associated role who contributed to rural life too, so you can attend as a trug-maker, a blacksmith or farrier, even a whitesmith - (yes, hence the name - a metal-worker who specialised in the production and maintenance of agricultural blades). ‘Hands on’ farming folk are also very welcome, so hop-pickers, milkmaids, millers, chicken fatters, higglers, poulterers, poachers and gamekeepers – come one, come all ! As long as your overall look pre-dates the 1950’s, it’ll be fine.
Feel free to bring along the tools of your adopted trade, too – hammers and snips from the forge, pitchforks, yokes and churns – but again remember that some procession routes can extend over quite some distance, so a barrow full of marrows or a poke-full of piglets is going to lose its novelty value fairly swiftly…
It should also be noted that we have decided to include the sometimes ubiquitous ‘land army girls’ in this category as, after all, they very obviously worked on the land before the 1950’s, contributing to the nations war effort; these outfits are easily researched on-line, and it’s simple to cobble together a set of perfectly acceptable clothing – a green sweater, brown trousers, boots and a headscarf serve the purpose admirably; alternatively, it’s possible to get hold of properly authentic replicas if you want to go for a more convincing look.
Feel free to bring along the tools of your adopted trade, too – hammers and snips from the forge, pitchforks, yokes and churns – but again remember that some procession routes can extend over quite some distance, so a barrow full of marrows or a poke-full of piglets is going to lose its novelty value fairly swiftly…
It should also be noted that we have decided to include the sometimes ubiquitous ‘land army girls’ in this category as, after all, they very obviously worked on the land before the 1950’s, contributing to the nations war effort; these outfits are easily researched on-line, and it’s simple to cobble together a set of perfectly acceptable clothing – a green sweater, brown trousers, boots and a headscarf serve the purpose admirably; alternatively, it’s possible to get hold of properly authentic replicas if you want to go for a more convincing look.
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SECOND PIONEERS - THE FOLLOWERS OF RICHARD III
From the Wars of the Roses, supporters of the House of York.
This may sound wholly out of place for a village of such an established Sussex pedigree, but we have our reasons which are explained at length elsewhere on the site.
We’re talking late 15th century here – when chivalric knights in full armour – or ‘harness’ – were disappearing from the battlefield to be replaced by more utilitarian soldiery. Disparate bits and pieces of armour are welcome by all means – a cuirass, some chainmail, a metal helmet and some stout leather gloves or proper gauntlets will do the job admirably. Bear in mind that armour would often be scavenged from the bodies of fallen foe as and when it became available, so a mixture of different styles is entirely authentic.
This was the period where heraldic emblems and coloured clothing were used to declare your allegiance – and Richard’s followers would wear burgundy (murrey) and dark blue, whether by way of a twisted fabric torse around your headgear, a halved woollen surcoat or lighter tabard, or a simple sash worn over the shoulders.
Embroidered fabric identifiers were also the order of the day – a Ricardian wild boar, the Yorkist rose – perhaps ‘in splendour’ surrounded by sun rays, these can all be bought ready-made; simply pin these to your outfit and join the march to war ! Of course, this is the costume to choose if you want to wander around bearing bladed weapons or war hammers – though as with our smugglers accoutrements, ensure that they are safe for ‘public display’.
Of course, there were plenty of non-combatants during this period – it was not all blood and gore – and all walks of life had their own contemporary clothing, any of which are totally acceptable. We have a very active group who create – from scratch - their own replica clothing from the 15th century onwards – courtly ladies, peasants, courtiers, jesters, harlots – pretty much anything you like the sound of, so use your imagination.
We’re talking late 15th century here – when chivalric knights in full armour – or ‘harness’ – were disappearing from the battlefield to be replaced by more utilitarian soldiery. Disparate bits and pieces of armour are welcome by all means – a cuirass, some chainmail, a metal helmet and some stout leather gloves or proper gauntlets will do the job admirably. Bear in mind that armour would often be scavenged from the bodies of fallen foe as and when it became available, so a mixture of different styles is entirely authentic.
This was the period where heraldic emblems and coloured clothing were used to declare your allegiance – and Richard’s followers would wear burgundy (murrey) and dark blue, whether by way of a twisted fabric torse around your headgear, a halved woollen surcoat or lighter tabard, or a simple sash worn over the shoulders.
Embroidered fabric identifiers were also the order of the day – a Ricardian wild boar, the Yorkist rose – perhaps ‘in splendour’ surrounded by sun rays, these can all be bought ready-made; simply pin these to your outfit and join the march to war ! Of course, this is the costume to choose if you want to wander around bearing bladed weapons or war hammers – though as with our smugglers accoutrements, ensure that they are safe for ‘public display’.
Of course, there were plenty of non-combatants during this period – it was not all blood and gore – and all walks of life had their own contemporary clothing, any of which are totally acceptable. We have a very active group who create – from scratch - their own replica clothing from the 15th century onwards – courtly ladies, peasants, courtiers, jesters, harlots – pretty much anything you like the sound of, so use your imagination.
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THIRD PIONEER - PLAGUE DOCTORS
Probably our most theatrical group – representing the renaissance and restoration period practitioners, chancers and charlatans who claimed to be able to cure one of the many strains of virulent plague which regularly killed vast swathes of the population. Characterised by extravagant masks and headgear, full-length coats or cloaks, substantial boots and a variety of arcane accessories (all of which have to be black – it’s the law), this costume is a real crowd-pleaser, although its practitioners are relatively small in number (and will therefore welcome new adherents to the cause with particular glee).
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For ALL of these costumes, whichever one you choose, far and away the best source of information is to simply ask any of our existing members – they’ll very likely be more than happy to rattle on about their own choice (interminably) and will happily share the source(s) of their gear. You can do things on the cheap – folk will happily lend spare items if you’re just getting started – or you can spend significant amounts if you wish (track down our 15th century re-enactment specialists if you want to go really high end, and have bottomless pockets in your handmade Flemish wool chausses…)
We also have a dedicated society WhatsApp Group for costume discussion, and members regularly attend fairs and markets up and down the country where made items or materials can be bought, as well as attending dedicated (non-bonfire) events where you can pick the brains of like-minded individuals. The whole costume thing is another extension of the bonfire family, and adds to the collective pride we all feel in the society.
Please do remember, these are guidelines and not hard and fast rules, variety is the spice of life, and there’s nothing worse than identikit costumes – what you wear should be an extension of who you are, so get on board as a bumpkin or a brigand, a hop-picker or a hobilar and show us what you’re made of!
One stricture we would point out most earnestly, though – remember that we dress for Bonfire; there are flaming torches, rookies, flares, fireworks and fires in varying
quantities at all the events we attend – so PLEASE try to avoid cheap, invariably nasty and almost always highly-flammable tat from the tawdriest recesses of Amazon and eBay; nylon stuff can burn most horribly, both itself and anyone who wears it – please avoid!
Updated July 2025
GO HERE to download Costume Guidelines in pdf format
We also have a dedicated society WhatsApp Group for costume discussion, and members regularly attend fairs and markets up and down the country where made items or materials can be bought, as well as attending dedicated (non-bonfire) events where you can pick the brains of like-minded individuals. The whole costume thing is another extension of the bonfire family, and adds to the collective pride we all feel in the society.
Please do remember, these are guidelines and not hard and fast rules, variety is the spice of life, and there’s nothing worse than identikit costumes – what you wear should be an extension of who you are, so get on board as a bumpkin or a brigand, a hop-picker or a hobilar and show us what you’re made of!
One stricture we would point out most earnestly, though – remember that we dress for Bonfire; there are flaming torches, rookies, flares, fireworks and fires in varying
quantities at all the events we attend – so PLEASE try to avoid cheap, invariably nasty and almost always highly-flammable tat from the tawdriest recesses of Amazon and eBay; nylon stuff can burn most horribly, both itself and anyone who wears it – please avoid!
Updated July 2025
GO HERE to download Costume Guidelines in pdf format